Always Remember
by erin boriiss
Summary: Yuu decides to keep Miki at an arm's distance to hide his true feelings for her. The result is that he has to watch Miki fall in love with another guy. Things turn awry and Yuu starts to wonder... I hate making summaries, but please read this. i tried my
1. Default Chapter

*These characters are the property of Wataru Yoshizumi. **This is a fanfic I started about a month after I got the first volume of the manga of marmalade boy. Its now one of my favorite anime manga series, but even then, my loyalty goes to Samurai X and Fushigi Yuugi. This is a mushy fanfic, but I hope you enjoy it. Criticisms are encouraged!  
  
There was something out of place.  
  
Yuu looked over at his companion. Miki was in a state of happiness, obviously, from the way she kept humming to herself. Yuu had to frown.  
  
"Why are you smiling so much?" he asked. There was a casual note to his voice. He couldn't help noting that she had been in a great mood since the night before as well.  
  
"Huh?" Miki looked at him with wide eyes before they filled with excitement. "Oh, THE coolest guy asked me out yesterday. Do you know Shin Wyoming?"  
  
Yuu just stared at her and hid a small smile. Yes, in fact, he did know this Shin. He was one of the high school populars, rich and outgoing. Also a heartthrob. Yuu looked back at Miki. He decided that it would be all right that Miki could date Shin, as long as she didn't fall for him too hard. It was true, that Shin had a reputation for dropping his girlfriends like frying pans, no matter how much they bawled at his feet for the next few weeks. Yuu compensated. All he had to do was to make sure that Miki and Shin were never alone inside a room for too long, and if Shin would try to pull some moves on her, then she'd have to know that Yuu would be there to protect her.  
  
See, Yuu liked Miki. He always had, for as long as he could remember since moving in with her family. He adapted his devil-may-care attitude, but even then, he knew that he couldn't hold Miki at an arm's distance forever and still expect to win her heart in the end. Yuu let out a sigh, and then he turned to her.  
  
"Be careful with the guy," he said, in a light tone. He injected some humor into it. "I hope you two have a great time together."  
  
A shadow in the back of his mind fell: Yeah right.  
  
Miki's eyes took on a similar shadow, but it disappeared as soon as it had come. Yuu thought that it had been something like hurt, then surprise, but Miki's bright smile a moment later made him change his thoughts.  
  
"Yeah!" Miki said, pumping her fist into the air. "I cant wait, Yuu, he's just so handsome and charming!"  
  
She didn't notice Yuu's wince as he paused then picked up his pace again. Since when had she fallen for a guy so hard?  
  
***  
  
Meiko glanced at Miki and tried not to grimace.  
  
"Uh, Miki," she started. "I know you might not like hearing this, but I think Shin is bad news, like all other me."  
  
Miki smiled.  
  
"Meiko, that is so like you. Come on, how hard can it be to fall in love with the most popular guy in the whole school?"  
  
Meiko broke into a sweat. "You're right," she said then laughed. "If you break your heart and cry your eyes out, then it's not my fault now, is it?"  
  
Miki didn't find it the least bit funny.  
  
Ginta suddenly appeared from behind.  
  
"What's this I heard about Shinizo Wyoming dating Miki?"  
  
Meiko didn't even look back, but Miki did, her eyes dancing.  
  
"He asked me out yesterday," she revealed, as if Ginta didn't know that already. "He wants me to watch a movie with him this Saturday."  
  
"You mean tomorrow," Ginta said, not bothering to even try to hide the disgust in his voice. He knew Shin's reputation just like everyone else knew that Ginta liked Miki. So he said nothing. Why would Miki have reason to believe him when she knew in some corner of her heart that he was in love with her? Miki's short skirt jumped up and down her legs as she walked down the street to her house.  
  
Ginta was too busy thinking to notice it that much. Did Yuu know about it? Most likely no. If Yuu would even TRY to have SOME decent brotherly feelings towards Miki, then at least he would check up on Shin to see what the bg deal was. Ginta pondered further.  
  
What if he could just show up at the date the next day, and make it appear as id it were by complete accident?  
  
What would be the use then? Ginta thought. To stop his best friend from kissing her date? Or to stop her date from kissing her? It was all so confusing.  
  
Yuu leaned out the door and called over to Miki:  
  
"Come on inside. The jerk's an hour and a half late. He's not coming."  
  
Miki refused to believe Yuu. Shin had seemed so sincere, so honest. She had just realized the Thursday before how much she wanted someone to actually care about her the way a special couple did. The cold seeped through her jacket and to her skin, and she knew that she looked terrible. How was it? Her eyes puffy, and her nose red from the crying that she had tried to stop.  
  
Maybe she had always had a secret crush on Shin, ever since she had seen him in junior high, right after she had confessed her feelings to Ginta through that letter. Then again.why was she so bitter that he had stood her up? The rational part of her mind told her to get in and to remove her high- heeled sandals and to just plop into bed.  
  
Pride held her back. She had practically boasted to Meiko and to Yuu that she was going to have her date tonight, with one of the most popular men in school, aside from Yuu.  
  
Her dress was light green; Meiko had lent it to her, saying that the shade made her eyes look more jade like. Her sandals were plain black and had several small straps. Her shoulders had been bare, aside from the jacket that Yuu had made her take earlier in the evening.  
  
"Come on, it's cold," he had insisted, as Miki had stood on the porch for the first half hour. She had declined, twice, until he had dumped it over her head and that was that. She was too cold to argue anymore, and he could see that.  
  
She wondered, as she looked around the empty street in front of her, where Shin could be. He had promised. She pulled Yuu's black jacket closer to herself. It had a nice smell of aftershave, something like earth. It was much too big for her, but it was warm. The path of her thoughts came to Shin. What if he had said the next Saturday?  
  
Was that the promise he gave to so many other girls? Was she really the fool for believing that he could actually care for her? She heard another call from Yuu.  
  
"Miki, he's not coming! I told you, you'd get a cold if you stay out. It's nine forty five. At this rate you'll miss even the last show."  
  
He leaned against the door in his nightclothes, his arms across his chest. Actually, he could see from the kitchen clock that it was getting nearer to ten than had said. When Miki didn't acknowledge that she had heard, he started to walk towards the porch where she had sat on the stairs. Then she spoke up:  
  
"Go inside, Yuu. I know he's not coming.just give me a moment here. I'll be inside in a few minutes."  
  
Yuu hesitated. The calloused attitude that he was supposed to portray towards her pulled at him. "That's what you get for trusting him." He gave a small halfhearted chuckle, which even to him sounded just the least bit mocking.  
  
"You'll wake our parents up," Miki said shortly, bitterly, as if she had already expected something like that from him. Her brownish red hair leaned against the post. Yuu heard the hurt in her voice, and wanted to kick himself. But, for her pride's sake, he let himself back in and closed the door.  
  
It was ten after eleven on the kitchen clock; the last cinema show must have been playing for more than thirty minutes. Yuu ran a hand through his blonde hair. Getting up from his leaning position from the doorway, he opened the door. Miki was where he had left her more than an hour ago, her arms tucked into her lap. Her head still rested against the post, and Yuu could see that she was sleeping.  
  
Without a word, he gathered her up in his arms. With ease, he passed through the door and closed it shut with his right foot. Then he made his way up the stairs and into her room. He lay her on her bed.  
  
Annoyance ate up some of his fatigue away. He knew that Shin couldn't be trusted, but then, at least he could have called. Yuu walked out of the room into his own room next door.  
  
MONDAY  
  
"Miki," Meiko started in an exasperated voice.  
  
"I don't care," Miki stormed. "I don't care if I make a fool of myself or whatever. I just want to get this over with."  
  
Miki almost rammed into the lunchroom. A few populars were laughing. Shin was among them as they stared at her from across one corner of the cafeteria. They all drew Miki's gaze, like a magnet. She stalked towards them.  
  
When she was face to face with Shin, she shouted:  
  
"You jerk! I waited for you the whole night Saturday, and you never came!"  
  
Shin's green eyes flashed. His dark brownish black hair swayed slightly. Then he grinned.  
  
"Why? Because you wanted to go out with me? Do you really feel that strongly for me?"  
  
He adopted a slacker position; he stretched out his long legs in front of him and he put one arm behind his head, which was a signal for his friends to laugh. Sure enough, they did, and Miki turned red, but she didn't back down.  
  
"I just want to know why," she said, sounding calmer.  
  
By this time, many of the cafeteria stares were directed towards them.  
  
"Why? Why?" Shin said, softly imitating her voice. "Because I wanted to make fun of you, that's why. I didn't expect you to wait that long for me. Hehe! All of you girls are the same! You never learn!"  
  
Miki's hands clenched into fists, and Meiko put her arm on her friend's shoulders.  
  
"Why.You." Miki's voice shook with rage.  
  
She looked down and then backslapped Shin, on the right cheek, where she knew it would hurt. Shin stood up, one side of his face a slightly red. There were many things on his face, anger, annoyance, and surprise. He took in a breath as he stood before Miki. She struggled not to shrink back and not to avert her eyes. She held his gaze for what seemed to be an eternity. Then anger and annoyance pushed out the surprise. From somewhere in the growing audience, Yuu stood up at the same time Ginta did.  
  
Shin gave a wry smile and turned to his really hot chocolate that was on his lunch tray. Before anyone knew what had happened, he turned back and spilled it on Miki's white uniform and her uniform skirt.  
  
She flinched, as the scalding liquid seeped through the uniform, but she refused to grab at her left arm, which stung.  
  
"An eye for an eye." Shin said quietly, ignoring the feeling that he had done something very wrong. He hated the fact that he had done that to a girl, but then he had to keep his reputation for a bad boy. Sure, some girls would be repulsed by now, and they wouldn't stray near him, but he would find a way into their hearts. He would, eventually, like always. He started to turn away, and sit down, when a pair of strong hands grabbed his collar. When he turned back, there was surprise on his face.  
  
"You bastard," Ginta muttered as he landed a punch on Shin's face, the same side where he was slapped. Once, twice. He was released, and Ginta walked away normally, as if he had done nothing except exchanged pleasantries with him.  
  
Shin had the overwhelming urge to run after him, but one of his friends grabbed his arm. "You're popular; we can regain your pride. Understand?"  
  
Shin watched the four retreating forms. He nodded. He did understand.  
  
"Are you alright?" Ginta asked as soon as the four were out of the cafeteria. He stopped Miki from continuing to walk and put a hand at the side of her face. "Are you alright, Miki?" he repeated. She gave a small laugh.  
  
"Of course I am. I just stood up to Shinizo Wyoming," and I watched you beat the light out of him, if only for two punches."  
  
Ginta gave an angry glare.  
  
"He poured burning liquid on you," he frowned. Miki sighed. "It was just hot, Ginta. It was just hot."  
  
Yuu interfered then, making it a point to push away Ginta's hand from Miki.  
  
"Listen," Yuu said in an even voice. "Tell Ginta if Shin ever bothers you again."  
  
Miki looked away.  
  
She couldn't just let Shin get away with what he had did. There was just something so nice about him underneath the surface, and she just wanted to know wht it was that made him tick. She knew that she wasn't very good at hiding her emotions, so when she gave a small nod of her head, she was shaken by her shoulders to look at Yuu. He looked at her with even eyes.  
  
"Alright?" Yuu said in a deceptively calm voice.  
  
Miki shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, sure, whatever."  
  
The next day, Miki was late for school. She walked quickly to her locker, wanting to get her books right away and then go to her class. Yuu had gone off to his class ahead. As Miki neared the locker, she heard something like a whistle. She turned back, and found herself staring into the eyes of a black hooded man. She wanted to scream, was about to, when a hand clamped over her mouth. There were three of them. She was dragged to the men's bathroom. Her eyes started to fill with tears of fear. Frustration pushed itself into her mind. She was struggling almost wildly, but one of the men held her fast. With her mouth covered, she couldn't make a sound, even as she tried to kick something-anything. The men's room locked with a hollow noise in her ears.  
  
Yuu looked at the clock. It was almost the middle of the first period, and still Miki hadn't come in yet. They had the first same period, but while he had taken his books along with him from the night before, she had needed to make a stop to her locker. He could almost hear Ginta's voice from behind him: "Is Miki sick today, Matsuura? Do you think I can visit her today?"  
  
There was a strange ring in his ears. Yuu sighed as he asked the teacher if he could get something from his locker. He exited the classroom, feeling stupid. He was being paranoid. Already he was rehearsing a reason the tell Miki in his head, that he needed to get something from her locker, that the teacher made him look for her, anything that showed that he didn't care what would happen to her.  
  
He approached her locker, which was across the hallway to his. When he reached there, somehow, his ears and eyes were averted to the men's room nearby. There was a faint jiggling and some small sobs that came from the door. They were silenced quickly, though. Thinking it was his imagination, and feeling that he needed something to distract him, he turned the combination to his locker and he stuck his head inside to get a book to show the teacher when he'd come back.  
  
The leader of the three pushed open the bathroom door and started to look out. Better safe than sorry was a hoodlum's motto. He peered into the hallways when he saw a figure standing. He took in a small breath. What was he supposed to do? He had heard someone in the halls for some reason, he could just feel that there was someone standing, and he was right. There was a student there, whose face was blocked off by the metal locker. The leader only caught a glimpse of a high school guy's legs.  
  
He looked back into the bathroom, where the girl lay on the floor with her blouse almost fully opened, her arms bruised, and her skirt was ripped.  
  
Abandon? Or not? He thought, as he wondered if he should just trust that nothing would be heard and he could just lock the door. Safety and fear of being caught got in the way. Better safe than sorry. Better safe than sorry. He gave a fierce whisper: "Fall back!"  
  
The two men looked up with a surprised look, and then stood up. They followed their leader to the bathroom window.  
  
Yuu looked at the men's room again. He had thought he had heard a noise. The door was open already, but aside from that, there was no change. The wind opened the bathroom door, he decided, shutting his locker closed. He heard a faint sob. He looked back, and to his surprise, he saw Miki. She was on he bathroom floor.  
  
'My god.' he thought as he rushed forward. He half expected, half-HOPED that it would be someone else, not Miki, just someone else with red brown and read hair. He approached quickly, and noted with dismay that prayers were not answered. He whipped out his cellular phone and called an ambulance, then he shouted for help across the halls. Miki stirred.  
  
Yuu grabbed at one of her hands.  
  
"You're going to be alright," he said. Miki started to cry hard.  
  
"Don't look at me," she said. She tried to lift her arms to cover herself, but she found that she was too weak. Yuu didn't know what else to do. He removed the outer polo of his school uniform and laid it over her.  
  
THURSDAY  
  
"I heard that Miki Yoishikawa nearly got killed this Monday."  
  
"Yeah, she was attacked by some guys."  
  
"They haven't got a clue who did this to her."  
  
Rumors spread out through the school. Miki walked among the students, feeling conscious and hot. Bandages were around her waist and around her arms where she was scratched with a knife. There had been no real complications, just several skin wounds and bruises and a small stab in her right leg. She had got it from resisting the drags of the goons. They had held her down.  
  
Miki looked down on the floor. She felt Ginta behind her right shoulder, and Meiko beside her. Yuu wasn't anywhere to be found. He was never 'anywhere' to be found. She could feel curious stares all around her, but she couldn't bring herself to look up.  
  
She knew that she had almost been raped the other day. How could someone do such a thing? She knew that the goons had somehow aimed for her specifically. She was too ashamed to tell anyone about that part, and Yuu, who had found her, had good sense not to bring it up to anyone who asked.  
  
During lunch, she realized that she had forgotten something in the classroom. She was walking with Ginta, Yuu, and Meiko. She turned to them.  
  
"I forgot something in the classroom. You guys just go ahead."  
  
Three glares were faced her way.  
  
"I'm coming with you," Yuu said. Miki saw relief on Ginta's face.  
  
"Hey," Miki said, laughing a little. "I can take care of myself. Leave me alone."  
  
But she was already being pushed by Yuu to the classroom. She leaned lightly on Yuu on her way there, her leg forcing her to do so, and her pride preventing her from leaning too heavily. When she reached the classroom, she immediately let go of Yuu.  
  
"I'll wait outside here," his flat voice saying what she was already about to tell him. She nodded. She entered the classroom.  
  
She looked around and saw Shin. He was sitting on her table, her pocketbook that she was supposed to retrieve in his hands. Miki held her head up high, limping a little as she made her way to him.  
  
"I can have the book now," she said.  
  
Shin handed it to her without a word. Then he surprised them both by blurting out:  
  
"Im really sorry, I had no idea Jira would have gone this far."  
  
Miki stared at him for a long moment, then understanding dawned in on her mind. She gave a strangled gasp. Then she backed up. She had no idea who Jira was, but she could tell that h wasn't from the school. He was probably just some guy hired from the street. Miki backed up and bumped into a table. She started to make some noise, knowing full well that Yuu was outside, waiting for her.  
  
But her parched throat only hurt. Shin looked at her with alarm in his eyes. Then he said:  
  
"If you say anything about me, then I'll just deny it," he said evenly. Calm was restored in his face. Miki found something akin to indignance as she looked into his face. Her voice came out in ragged puffs, but the message was still clear.  
  
"Fine," Miki said. "But if something happens again, and i know that youre behind it for sure, then you can bet that i'm going to tell someone-anybody who will believe me."  
  
Shin's eyes flickered uncertainly, and Miki gave him a short nod. Her face was red from anger. The jerk had sent someone named..Ah, she didnt remember his name. All she knew was that it was unimportant. She walked wiht as much grace as she could muster, just to spite him, as she made her way out. Yuu looked at her as soon as she exited. Miki hastily closed the door behind her, as if she wanted to eat lunch already. Yuu seemed to be preoccupied anyway to notice.  
  
"Where's your book?" yuu asked suddenly. Miki glanced at her right hand and she noticed that she had forgotten to get it.  
  
I must have dropped it when on the way out, Miki thought, even if she had no memory of doing so. Yuu gave her a peculiar glance. Miki realized that she had said the thought out loud.  
  
"I'll get it for you," he offered, already starting to open the classroom door. Not to appear so desperate to have him close the door, Miki let her knees give way. She fell into Yuu's arms.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said into his surprised face, feeling surprised herself. She didnt make a move to get up. All she knew was that she had to protect Shin, which was actually a strange thought. What could Yuu do anyway? Well, they were both muscular, and strong, they could get into a fight somehow, she thought. Wait...as if Yuu would care what would happen to me anyway. But...  
  
"Let's just go," Miki said out loud. "I didnt see the book in there. It must be in my locker."  
  
Miki saw that there was no facial reaction on Yuu's face when she said the word locker. Inwardly, she gave a small sigh. She took his hand and pulled him forward to get him moving. Then she let go as soon as he picked up his pace. There was an uncertain look in his eyes when she turned her back to him, but it disappeared quicky.  
  
*** 


	2. The Apology

Shin checked his watch. He had gotten Miki's address from the school information receptionist, who had given him a strange glance and a suspicious eye, but he decided that if there were no guts, there was no glory. He was happy that he had found her two story house. There would be no one to interfere. He would give a proper apology, then ask her out on a date. He realized how much he liked her when he saw her cool composed attitude two days ago during lunch. Her leg had healed rapidly since, and for some reason, he felt extremely relieved because of that. Shin looked back at the gate. It was a nice house, a little big, but plain and simple. Nothing like his medium, extravagant house. He stared out for what seemed to be a long time.  
  
"What are you doing here?" There was a male voice behind him. Shin looked back. There was the guy named Yuu.  
  
Shin's eyes grew dark with indifference and annoyance.  
  
"What are YOU doing here?" he asked. Yuu didn't show any trance of the same feelings. Instead, he said: "I live here."  
  
Shin gaped. Maybe that dumb suspicious receptionist had given him the wrong address, instead giving him a MALE MAN'S house number. What was he, a gay?  
  
Then Miki appeared over Yuu's shoulder.  
  
"Shin, what are you doing here?" She asked him, giving a small smile. She gave Yuu a small push on the back to indicate that he could go in ahead, but he didn't seem to get the message. He stood still, but he just seemed to be standing without any particular purpose.  
  
"Miki," Shin said. "Is this your house?"  
  
Miki nodded. "Uh-huh."  
  
"So the both of you-" his eyes widened.  
  
"live together?" Miki finished for him, adding in the question mark at the end that she knew was supposed to follow. She laughed, which indicated a yes. In truth, she had wanted to speak to Shin as well, and she was hoping for a chance. Now that he was outside her house, then they could talk in private.  
  
"Yuu, are you just going to stand there?" Miki asked him, poking him in the shoulder. Yuu was busy picking at a leaf that was caught in the gate. Yuu didn't say anything, but she got the message.  
  
"Come on," she said heavily to Shin. "We can talk in my room. I'd wanted to speak to you, too, you know."  
  
Shin hesitated a moment, then he walked through the gate. When they reached Miki's room, she shut the door closed. Shin said: "I want to say that I'm sorry about the Jira incident."  
  
Miki frowned. "That's alright. But you could have just stuck an egg into my face or something. My DIGNITY was at stake there. You really didn't have to go that far."  
  
Shin nodded.  
  
Miki looked away. "Is that all?" she said cheerfully. "I just wanted a proper apology from you, that's it."  
  
Shin didn't budge from where he stood. Miki put on a relaxed stance. There was more. What came next caught her somewhat off guard. Shin fumbled as he stood, with his school uniform and his ID.  
  
"Um," he began. Then he said: "Do you want to go out with me this weekend?"  
  
Miki flushed after a moment of silence, the words ticking in her brain.  
  
"Err," she said, stalling.  
  
Shin, not knowing what to do, grabbed Miki's shoulders and planted a kiss on her mouth. As soon as he let go of her, she drew her hand and slapped him. She breathed shallowly.  
  
"Idiot!" she said in almost a small scream.  
  
Shin didn't know why she was so angry. All he had done was steal a kiss.  
  
Her right hand fell protectively across her chest. "Never touch my chest again, you idiot!"  
  
Shin realized that he had accidentally brushed against it when he had grabbed her. He made towards her, attempting to explain that he had had no intention of doing that to her. But she said again:  
  
"Get out of my room, you pervert!!"  
  
He looked at her strangely. Wow, she did have fire, noted numbly. He went out of the room and led himself down the stairs. He saw Yuu on the living room couch, the TV was on, but he was staring at the clock above the television screen, as if he were waiting for some favorite show of his to come on. Shin exited the house, not hearing Yuu's muttered breath: "Three minutes and fifteen seconds."  
  
***  
  
The following week, Yuu was in his room when he heard the doorbell ring.  
  
"Yuu, get that," his mom said from the kitchen. Yuu sighed. He got up and went down to open the stairs. As he looked into the peephole, he saw that it was Shin.  
  
"Miki," he called to Miki's bedroom. "It's Shin. You have to come down and let him in."  
  
Miki's door opened instantly, and she bounded down the stairs.  
  
"WHO is it?" she asked, having not heard the name. She stood beside Yuu and started to tiptoe to see through the small hole. She gently pushed Yuu away with her upper body. She had just come from the shower, and Yuu couldn't help but notice that she smelled like strawberries.  
  
"It's Shin," Miki's voice said, having turned flat. "Tell him to go away." She started to walk back up the stairs. But Yuu let Shin inside anyway. Shin immediately started bounding for Miki. She stood still and faced him, a cold look in her eyes.  
  
"You haven't been answering my calls," Shin said. Miki shrugged.  
  
"I just don't care. Leave me alone."  
  
She started again to walk forward, but this time she didn't even bother to look back. Shin called out her name two times before he let out a frustrated sigh.  
  
"Hey man, get out of here," Yuu said. He was holding the door slightly open suggested that the guy leave. Shin was trapped. He took one look at Yuu's passive face, and another at Miki's slowly retreating back, and then said: "Hey Miki, I like you, alright?! Give me a break here!" He ran up after her and grabbed her by the shoulders. Her surprised expression when she turned around sort of gave him a clue that he was doing something wrong. He looked at her squarely.  
  
"I'm sorry for what happened to you earlier this month, but it won't happen again. Just.Just go out with me for one night, and then you can ignore me all you want. I know we didn't exactly tick off in the beginning, but still."  
  
He was pried off her by Yuu, who had grabbed Shin by the back of his shirt.  
  
"What the-"  
  
Shin never did finish the sentence, because he was already on his way out the door. In front of his eyes, he could see Miki just standing there and staring at him, a startled expression on her face. Then:  
  
"Yuu! Stop that!"  
  
Shin wasn't immediately released, though. He leaned forward until his mouth was in line with Shin's ear. For a sickening moment in time, Shin had the strange feeling that Yuu was about to kiss his neck. But it wasn't going to happen, of course. Yuu just simply whispered.  
  
"Get out of here, and don't come back again."  
  
Shin was pushed completely out, and was on his way to walking home. The darkening sky looked peaceful. He willed his legs to move. Miki suddenly appeared behind him and threw her arms around his neck. She leaned her head against his wavy brown hair. She laughed.  
  
"Sure, Shin."  
  
There was a momentary pause as everyone weighed the gravity of that line. Yuu's mother came into the living room, wiping her hands on a rag. "Is everything alright here?"  
  
Yuu's door to his room slammed shut.  
  
***  
  
Short, I know, but time in high school is even shorter. I struggle to meet up with the expectations of all the teachers. Please comment!! Thank you!! 


	3. Good bye, Miks

"So.Are you going now?" Yuu asked. He poked his head into Miki's room. He regarded her skirt. Miki was sitting on the bed, brushing her hair over her face to add volume to her already thick hair.  
  
"Too short," he said as he eyed her legs. Miki huffed.  
  
"What are you talking about? Kara let me borrow this skirt and Meiko let me borrow this blouse, just for this special occasion, I can't waste it!"  
  
Miki put the brush beside her and flipped up her hair. Yuu took in his breath. She didn't seem to be wearing a trace of make-up, but her jade eyes looked really, really pretty above her rosy cheeks. She was excited to see Shin, he could tell. He looked at Miki's light red blouse and her black skirt. Yuu looked into Miki's confused eyes and realized that he had been staring at her. He looked away. There was something very wrong with him nowadays. He could feel some strain on his moral esteem. He crossed his arms over his chest and completely entered the room. "You know," he began. "There's a world of perverts around there."  
  
Miki continued to look in surprise. "Are you trying to tell me about Shin?"  
  
Yuu wanted to say: 'Who else?' but he kept his mouth shut. She continued nonchalantly. "I don't think he's like that, Yuu."  
  
"And how would you know?"  
  
"Because. Because.He was so sincere, that's why!" Miki was suddenly angry and she felt annoyed, which affected Yuu's mood as well.  
  
"Guys like that ALWAYS look sincere, even when they don't mean it!" Yuu said.  
  
Miki looked wounded and hurt, then she stood up.  
  
"I haven't had anyone care for me in a long time, Yuu!" she said loudly, but not enough to attract the ever-present parents. "So don't tell me what to do! I NEED someone like him to tell me that I'm actually important to him!"  
  
"Well, there are other people."  
  
"You mean those guys who aren't that handsome."  
  
"I'M handsome!"  
  
Yuu closed the door behind him as he entered the room. The doorbell in the den rang.  
  
"That must be him," Miki said. She got up. She ignored the fact that Yuu was waiting to be acknowledged that he was standing in front of her. Yuu repeated: "I'M handsome!"  
  
He blocked her path and towered over her. She tried to sidestep him, but he proved too quick. He repeated yet again: "I'm handsome!"  
  
That was really stupid, but he somehow had the feeling that he had to give her a message, even if he himself wasn't really sure what he was trying to say. Miki shook her head, and then she looked at him. Hurt clouded her eyes, as if she thought he was mocking her.  
  
"Yeah!" she shouted. "I know you're handsome, Yuu, I know that! It's just that you don't like me that way!" She saw Yuu's stricken face, and instinctively, her hands flew to her face. She then realized that she had started to cry. She began to stutter: "Err.I.I."  
  
Yuu came towards her and tried to put his arm around her still shoulders, but she walked past him out the door with great dignity.  
  
"Miki!" Yuu said loudly. But she was out the door.  
  
***  
  
Shin glanced at Miki. She was leaning her head against the window of his car. He noticed in a flash how tired she looked. She was just staring out the window- staring out the window at nothing but the passing shadows that were a blur. Shin had tried to start a conversation in the beginning, and Miki had been patronizing enough, laughing and talking at the right times, but they could both feel that it was strained.  
  
Shin was almost thankful when the structure of the movie house loomed up. It was a large building, with yellow clay bricks and about a billion lights.  
  
"We're here," he said to Miki. She nodded.  
  
"Great."  
  
Shin didn't say anything more as he turned off the ignition and he looked at her with some concern in his eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and stared for a while. She never looked back at him. She didn't become aware of him looking at her, but eventually she glanced at him.  
  
"What, is there something on my face?" she asked him.  
  
"No, no." Shin said. He pondered how to continue. "If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me."  
  
Miki sighed, and then giggled. "Yuu. he had always said that I'm really terrible at hiding my emotions."  
  
She seemed like she was really sorry for that small bit of information. Shin looked on ahead at the parking lot through his windshield. There were hardly any people around because they had decided to take the last full show. There were several lamp posts scattered around, and the moon shone above.  
  
As he looked out, yellow light caught in his green eyes, and in his brown hair, along with just a tint of silver from the moon. He was handsome, and his features were sharply chiseled. Miki had been observing him and how much he looked so different from Yuu. There was something so otherworldly about Shin, as if he had come from a book rather than real life. Yuu had this down-to-earth appearance about him, like he knew what the world was about and still didn't care at all.  
  
"Let's go," Miki said quietly.  
  
Shin broke his thoughts and nodded. He got out and opened the door for her. Arm in arm, the walked to the movie house.  
  
***  
  
"I love you!!"  
  
"I love you, too, honey!!"  
  
"Never leave my side!!"  
  
"I'll be here forever!!"  
  
Yuu looked listlessly at the TV screen. It was almost eleven. The full show would have been almost ended. He planned to talk to Miki afterwards and to tell her that he liked her- maybe a whole lot, but maybe NOW wasn't such a great time to fall in love. And after Miki would laugh and think that he was joking, he would join in-to show that he was joking as well. Devil-may-care attitude. Never get attached.  
  
Maybe I should drive over. Yuu thought. Then: Nah, it can wait.  
  
"Why are you up so late?" a voice came behind him. At first, Yuu assumed that the noise was from the TV, but later on he realized that his mother was behind him. Looking back, he said:  
  
"Oh, I'm just waiting for Miki."  
  
His mother was taking off her apron, her dark brown eyes looking at him with interest, then there was a small light, looking as if she had just remembered a small bit of information.  
  
"Oh, Miki?" she repeated.  
  
"Yeah." Yuu's blond hair fell in front of his eyes when he gave a small bob of his head.  
  
"She's going to Shin's house after the movie to get a CD that she let him borrow." Came the cheerful voice. "So don't wait up, she might come home a bit late. I think they're going to be listening to the tracks."  
  
Yuu sprang out of the couch, knocking over the bowl of popcorn that had been in his lap.  
  
"What?! Aren't you the least bit worried?!"  
  
His mother was nonchalant. As usual, her cheery nature didn't think anything was wrong with coming over to a guy's house for a short while.  
  
"Does Jin know about this?" Yuu asked in a strained voice, referring to Miki's father.  
  
"Haha!" His mother said. "He never allows Miki to go anywhere with ANY guy, except if its with you. So naturally, when she brought up that she was going on a date, he tried to refuse but Miki won in the end. She didn't even have to explain what they were going to be doing, because he didn't want to listen." She gave another merry laugh.  
  
"Come on, Yuu. Have a little faith in Miki. It's not like the two of them are going to make out in his room or anything."  
  
Yuu was already feeling sick, not caring what anybody was saying. He was imagining the scenes unfold in Shin's house.  
  
"My parents are out," Shin would say (Yuu supposed), gesturing with a suggestive hand to the door of his room.  
  
"Really?" Miki would ask (Yuu supposed).  
  
Then the two (Yuu supposed) would go up and the two would.  
  
Yuu shook his head. Miki was better than that! She wasn't the type of girl who would go too fast for her own good.right? He remembered Miki that night. She was so pretty.so innocent and attractive at the same time. And that was from a guy who lived under the same roof as her! What more would Shin think?  
  
He didn't bother with the popcorn on the floor. He mumbled something about cleaning it up later and dashed up his room. He got his coat. Grabbing his set of the keys, he dashed out. His mother had lent him a copy of the keys in case he needed the car. He already had a student's permit to drive.  
  
"Mom, I'm going out now," he said. He didn't wait for an answer, but he was opening the door. His mother's voice trailed after him.  
  
He thought for an instant that she was going to tell him that it was late and that he should stay inside, but instead, she only said: "It's cold outside. Bring your coat."  
  
***  
  
"That was a great movie!" Miki laughed, feeling great for the first time since the incident with Yuu. She punched Shin playfully on the arm.  
  
"That part when the kid saved the world was so cool, don't you think?!" she was talking about the small kid who had taken a small crystal out of a cave wall and had eaten it. But the crystal had taken his life, because crystals weren't made to be eaten, after all. His dying words had been: "I want the world to be happy."  
  
And his wish had come true, for the crystal he had eaten had been magical, and it granted him his final wish. Miki had cried in the end, while Shin was frantically choking back his laughter. He had put his arm around Miki. But she was in high spirits.  
  
Shin flinched. "That part was corny," he said. Miki surprised him by laughing.  
  
"Yeah right! You were crying! I saw you!"  
  
Her green eyes danced in merriment, which made Shin's own green eyes to dance as well. But the weight of her words caught in his head, and his eyes boggled.  
  
"Wha-! I wasn't crying at all!"  
  
She smiled.  
  
He looked ahead to the parking lot. A beige car was skimming in front of them. Shin waited for it to pass by, but to his surprise, the car stopped immediately in front of him, and the door opened.  
  
Shin pushed Miki behind him a little and shoved her a bit with his shoulder. But it was only Yuu who came out the car. Shin didn't know what to say. Yuu jumped in front of him, a strange look in his eyes.  
  
Miki had recognized the car to be the car of Yuu's mother and had wondered what was up, but as she had been walking forward, Shin had pushed her backwards a little. She now came up to stand in front of Yuu.  
  
Yuu looked at her.  
  
"You've been crying!" Yuu said accusingly. His hand flew to the side of her face. His brown eyes glowed with fierce protectiveness. Miki pulled away. Her own eyes held the same accusation.  
  
"What did you do?!" Yuu fired at Shin. Miki cringed. Obviously Yuu was distraught that night.  
  
"It was a MOVIE," Shin said. "She got emotional. What are you doing here anyway?"  
  
Miki made a movement for Yuu to get out of her way. But try as she might, she just could not bring herself to look at Yuu's eyes. She couldn't explain it, but she had actually blurt out her feelings at him earlier. She could have kicked herself for doing so. How could she have been so stupid! Her face burned with anger at Yuu showing up for no reason at all and anger at herself for admitting that maybe she did have feelings for Yuu.  
  
Her gaze was averted so she didn't see the hurt expressions on Yuu's face. Yuu grabbed her hand.  
  
"Miki, look at me."  
  
Miki lifted her eyes. But instead of hurt, there was nothing but annoyance and several shadows that were hidden.  
  
Yuu sighed.  
  
"Miki.We're going home now."  
  
"Wait a minute," Shin said, interfering with the sober mood. Somehow, it was all so unrealistic, the occasional passing by of the movie house employees and the date and the girl and the made family member.  
  
"She's going to pick up something at my house, buzz off. You're her BROTHER."  
  
Yuu's eyes darkened. "You know I'm not her brother, you idiot."  
  
Shin shrugged. "Whatever."  
  
Yuu still held Miki's small hand in his big hands, and he held down the stare of Shin. They were both interrupted when Miki broke off.  
  
"Can we go now?" Miki's voice was tired and drained. Her date took the cue. They both ignored Yuu as they walked forward. Yuu took a look at the two retreating figures. He saw: one strong figure of one of the most popular new students in his campus, a frail thin figure of Miki. Miki.  
  
In his mind's eye, he saw the future.  
  
First comes.love.  
  
Then.comes.marriage.  
  
Then.comes.the baby.in the.bay carriage.  
  
AAAAGGGHHH!!! Screamed Yuu's mind in one of those rare moments when he started to panic. He rushed forward.  
  
Miki had turned around to the sounds of a person running towards her. There was Yuu, his blond hair streaming under the harsh glow of the headlights. He had his jacket with him, but Miki could see that underneath he was wearing his nightclothes. Rubber shoes seemed unfitting. He was a relatively fast runner, and he reached them in no time.  
  
He was a strange sight. Miki couldn't help but stare.  
  
"Miks," Yuu said as he reached her. Miki's eyes narrowed. MIKS???? What kind of nickname was that? Since when did Yuu call her MIKS??!!  
  
She had no time to ponder as Yuu looked straight into her face, his eyes steady, and he said:  
  
"Miki, here it is, alright?! I don't like you at all, but Jin would kill me if I'd let someone like THAT-" he jerked a thumb at Shin- "marry you! Miki.you can get so much better!"  
  
His voice was reasonable, even if his words were obviously a strange jumble just put together. Miki was stunned. Then her face was blank. Yuu started to have a hollow feel in his stomach. Was Miki going to scream at him again.?  
  
But her next expression took the two by surprise, the silently standing date, and the desperately pleading guy.  
  
"Yuu," Miki said softly. She put her right hand on his cheek. Her eyes held an unreadable emotion, fondness, hurt, surprise, there was something there just beyond Yuu's reach that he couldn't even begin to understand.  
  
".I like Shin. You should understand that; now let me live my life. You are just a guy who happens to be living with me. Goodbye.Yuu."  
  
That was a strange goodbye, a final one. Goodbye for what? For the fact that she wanted Yuu to leave her alone? Or good bye to the future that could have been but was taken away at the moment?  
  
Even as Shin's car drove past the parking lot with Miki in the driver's seat, Yuu just stood there, like his shoes were glued to the ground. His cheek tingled where Miki had laid her hand, leaving him a reminder of her good bye.  
  
At length, he looked up at the half moon. "Yeah. Bye, Miki." 


	4. Good bye, Shin

Yuu looked at the wall beside his table. The clock on the wall read that it was nearing one in the morning. He looked in distaste at the textbook that he had been reading. He couldn't concentrate. Miki was civil to him and she talked to him normally. Yuu had the impression that she wanted the both of them to forget that anything ever happened. Yuu wanted to scoff. Things didn't happen because things were left alone.  
  
His chin rested on his hand. He wanted to see Miki. It had been a month since the incident in the movie house. He needed to talk to her. He heard noises in the kitchen below. Usually, no sound could have been heard through the wall and through the floor, but then he had heard a metal pot banging against the floor. It was a faint noise, not enough to awaken a sleeping person, but since he was already awake, he had, of course, heard it.  
  
Somewhere in his heart, he hoped that it was Miki. His eyes went to the lit kitchen, and he saw Miki's slender figure in her heart spotted pajamas. She sensed someone behind her and then she looked back. Seeing that it was Yuu, she gave a smile.  
  
"Yuu! Can't sleep?"  
  
Yuu didn't give back a smile, instead, just took a seat in one of the plastic chairs beside the counter.  
  
"Can you make me some coffee?"  
  
"Do it yourself."  
  
Yuu wanted to give a small smile. The fact that Miki had told him off in the movie house hadn't changed anything in their relationship. Her attitude towards him was as if he had never remotely admitted that he liked her. She was still wry and self-justified and practical.  
  
But as for him, he couldn't help but feel a pang whenever he would see her. But still, he hid his feelings and played his own part of the game where he would pretend that everything was alright.  
  
Yuu played with the small display of fruits beside him. Miki turned, a bowl of noodles in her hand, a ladle in the other.  
  
"There are still some more noodles left, do you want some?" she asked in a matter-of-factly voice.  
  
"Sure," he replied.  
  
Five minutes later, the both of them were eating their noodles. Miki was hacing a one sided conversation with herself in the brightly lit kitchen across him, telling him about some science project she had to do in their class. Yuu was only half listening. He wasn't really used to having her so close to him anymore. After a month, it seemed quite foreign.  
  
But still, he felt the need to join in the conversation.  
  
"Did you know," he asked. "That this guy named.Jira.came to school two days ago? He came up to that 'popular' person Harry and asked something about his payment. I think the school official called a cop to drag him off because there was starting to begin a racket."  
  
Miki's face held some shock.  
  
"Are you sure? A guy named JIRA?"  
  
Miki had gone to Meiko's house that day after school. She suddenly felt a pang of regret. She should have been there to see what this guy looked like.  
  
Yuu appeared to be thinking hard.  
  
"Yeah, I think that was the name. Personally, I wasn't there the whole time, but towards the end, when two policemen were dragging him out, I heard some stupid last words."  
  
"What were they?" Miki was looked interested, and almost afraid.  
  
"His last words?" Yuu paused. "I think they were something like: 'If you don't give me the fucking money, I'm going to come back and finish the job-ten times worse than you asked for, and then tell people why I did it.'"  
  
Yuu thought again. "Or something like that. Close enough, I guess."  
  
Miki had gone pale. Her hand shook as she used her chopsticks to pick up a string of noodles.  
  
"Want to tell me something?" Yuu asked, looking concerned.  
  
"What did Harry do?" Miki asked. She looked up into his face. "Didn't Harry do anything?!"  
  
Her voice was beginning to take on a note of hysteria.  
  
Yuu shrugged.  
  
"He shouted that he'd pay that's all. You can ask other students, there was a whole crowd of them seeing what the commotion was about."  
  
Miki let out a held breath. Then she looked at Yuu. Again Yuu wondered why she was so interested in knowing what had made her so half interested and half frightened. As if she could read his mind, Miki cleared her throat softly.  
  
"Yuu, if I tell you something, then you have to promise not to tell ANYONE."  
  
Yuu stared at her. Something important was coming. He nodded.  
  
"Remember that incident beside my locker some time ago? When three hooded guys attacked me?" Miki almost choked with rage at the memory. "TWO people were behind the attack. One was the popular friend, I guess the one named Harry. The other was.It was Shin."  
  
Yuu's lower jaw dropped.  
  
"Hey!" Miki said defensively, feeling that something was going to burst in the air any moment. "He had no idea Harry was going to go so far! All he knew was that Harry had a 'great' plan that couldn't be disrupted!"  
  
Yuu's face was going through two changes. One was shock. Another was forming in such slow motion that Miki knew whatever she said wouldn't change what was coming.  
  
A smooth, calm mask rested itself on Yuu's face. But Miki could recognize some underlying feelings. All she could detect was a faint trace of anger.  
  
"Yuu! You promised not to tell anyone," she reminded him.  
  
"Yeah. All right. " Yuu gave a small wave of his wrist. "I just can't believe you never told me about this until now."  
  
He stood up and left his unfinished bowl on the counter. Miki just looked after him until her disappeared from the kitchen. She looked in distaste at her own bowl of noodles that had gone slightly cold. She stood up and left her noodles on the counter as well.  
  
***  
  
The rest of the week passed by without incident. The next weekend, Miki went out with Shin to a fancy restaurant. Before that, she had to overcome a series of obstacles. First of all, Yuu had suddenly talked to Jin about making Miki stay inside. Jin had sensed an ally and had almost forbidden Miki to go, but the two women had convinced him that it was okay.  
  
Then Yuu had gone to his own mother, and had asked her to forbid Miki. Of course, his mother found nothing wrong with the date.  
  
So Yuu asked Miki's mother, who grew worried at his list of possibilities, and then pried Miki with questions. By the time Yuu was drained of possibilities, it was too late because Miki was already with Shin on a dinner date.  
  
Yuu was wracking his brain. Miki had no idea Yuu was behind the parental questioning. She had assumed it had something to do with a midlife crisis and had thought nothing more.  
  
Yuu was thinking of what could have happened if the three men hadn't retreated for some unknown reason. And to think that Shin was behind everything was unforgivable. A rational part of his mind knew that it wasn't completely his fault, but he still worried about Miki. If the couple would break up, then would the same thing happen?  
  
After Miki had left, Yuu had looked outside the window at the retereating car, trying to memorize the car plate, but it had disappeared at the corner before long.  
  
Jin noticed that something was bothering Yuu and sat beside him.  
  
"What's with Shin that's making you so worried?"  
  
Yuu looked at Jin. He had promised, but he could think of no other way to protect Miki. He had promised, and he was about to break that promise, but he was worried enough.  
  
"Jin.remember that time when."  
  
***  
  
Miki came home that night in a great mood. She had skipped past the Parents, who had been watching television, and then she had gone up to her room. She didn't notice that all the Parents were in a bad mood, just almost glaring at the TV.  
  
She went to sleep that night with a smile on her face, thinking about that perfect kiss that she and Shin had shared. She noticed that her parents, for the week thereafter were in a strange mood, as if a dark cloud had befallen on them. And they kept on telling her, that she could tell them anything at all, and then they'd understand.  
  
But Miki had nothing to tell them, and they didn't really push it, so she thought nothing of it.  
  
After two weeks had passed, Shin suddenly took Miki aside in the school halls after school. He gave her a long hug and then he broke off.  
  
"Bye Miki," he said sadly. Miki didn't understand.  
  
"What are you talking about?" she asked.  
  
Shin gave her a small grin. She changed the topic and the both of them had talked. They laughed at some things and then grew silent at other times in their past, and when a good two hours had passed. Miki said:  
  
"I've got to go now, Shin. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Shin gave another soft smile.  
  
Then he turned and went in to the direction of the classroom.  
  
***  
  
The next day, Miki noticed that Shin didn't come to school. The teacher said that Shin had had a meeting with the principal. Miki wondered what Shin could have done.  
  
"What do you think?" Miki asked Meiko during recess.  
  
"Didn't you hear?" Meiko asked, astounded. "Shin is being relocated to Osaka. He's been expelled from the school!"  
  
Miki was shocked. "What?!" she almost screamed. Her bag of chips fell from her hand. "Are you sure?! Who told you?!"  
  
Miki stood up and started to shake. "How did this happen?!"  
  
Meiko tried to calm her friend down. "There was no clear reason.For goodness sakes, Miki, calm down!"  
  
Miki tried to take a deep breath.  
  
"He had always had such good grades," she said.  
  
Miki tried to think what could have caused the school to expel a student like Shin. They had nothing against him. The thought never crossed Miki's mind that it could have had something to do with what had happened to her. Sure, Harry was also gone, but she didn't care, and aside from that, she had told no one except Yuu. She trusted Yuu.  
  
At that moment, Yuu and Ginta came along with their cans of soda. Ginta and Yuu were always cold to each other for some unexplained reason, but they always went together with Meiko and Miki.  
  
"Did you hear?" Yuu began. "Shin's being expelled."  
  
***  
  
"Mom, dad, I'm home!" Miki said. She was tired, and all she planned to do was stay in her room and cry over Shin. He had left the same afternoon, without bothering to call her at all or explain. She felt betrayed.  
  
"Honey," her mother said from the kitchen. "Come in, we've made a feast."  
  
Miki was about to say that she didn't want to eat, but then changed her mind. She needed her nutrition, after all, right? She plopped to the kitchen after she removed her school shoes. Everyone, including Yuu, was there, sitting at the table.  
  
"So," Jin said cheerfully. "Is that Shin guy out of school?"  
  
Miki gaped.  
  
"Why?" she asked, suspicious for some reason.  
  
"Oh," Yuu's mother said. "We called the school to have that brat expelled. No one hires thugs off the street to beat up a poor defenseless girl. The principal asked us quite a number of questions, but we were able to answer him."  
  
As her parents continued to tell her why Shin was so wonderfully gone from the school, Miki fought her nausea. She just stood there, her soft black hair loose from it's ponytail to around her shoulders, her arms hanging limply.  
  
Then her eyes had started to fill, and she turned to Yuu with such hatred and sudden realization that he had to look away from her gaze.  
  
"I HATE YOU!" she shouted to him in particular, which brought the Shinizo Wyoming family forum to a complete halt. Miki was blinded by her tears. All she could see was a hazy view of things as she tore through the stairs into her room.  
  
"She'll be okay," Jin said from the table.  
  
***  
  
It was late at night when Miki's phone rung. She knew who it was even before she answered, and she picked it up on the first ring.  
  
"Shin?" she asked immediately.  
  
"Miki, how are you?" Shin asked. There was concern in his voice. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to worry. Listen, I'm living with my Auntie right now. My parents are still there in Tokyo. I'll visit you sometime."  
  
From where she ay, Miki shook her head in the darkness.  
  
"There's no use," she said sadly. "It's complicated to have a long distance relationship."  
  
"Then we can write to each other.as friends," Shin suggested.  
  
Miki gave a small bitter laugh. "Sure," she said softly.  
  
Shin gave her his address. "I've got to go," Shin said after. "Miki.I love you."  
  
".I love you too, Shin."  
  
***  
  
"Miki's staying in today," Miki's mother informed the people around the living room. They all had guilty expressions on their faces, but Yuu's face was a blank slate.  
  
"Let's just act normally," she continued. "Eventually Miki will accept what had happened and she'll know that we just did it for her own good."  
  
For some reason, her words were of no comfort, as each of the parents said a goodbye from the doorway to Miki's room and announced that they were leaving. It was early in the morning, a dreary November chill in the air.  
  
The parents left for work and Yuu went to school.  
  
An hour passed.  
  
From her bedroom, Miki put a small piece of paper on top of her bed, and with a back pack in the other, she went out of the house, making sure to lock the door before she left.  
  
She set out to the train station. 


	5. Disappearance

Yuu came home late.  
  
"Miki's sleeping," his father said, as if he already knew what Yuu was about to ask. "she wont answer the door, and it's quiet in there. I'm already starting to feel sorry that we had told her that we were the ones who told the principal who was behind Miki's injuries earlier in the year."  
  
"I don't mind that she's angry at us," Miki's mother said. "The fact is, it's better if she'd always be safe."  
  
They were all sitting in a tight circle in the living room. Yuu went past them up the stairs. He felt guilty that he had told them what he had promised Miki he wouldn't tell. He had the feeling that he had done something wrong and something right at the same time.  
  
Yuu bounded up the last stair. As he passed by Miki's room, he suddenly had a strange feeling that the room was sort of. empty. He glanced at the door of the room but went on his way.  
  
It was past midnight when Yuu couldn't help but have a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It had started with the feeling of emptiness when he had gone past Miki's room, but it slowly grew.  
  
Miki apparently hadn't eaten dinner, and there was missing food from the refrigerator, like apples and oranges were missing. Some bread was gone as well. The Parents had just assumed that Miki had eaten the food while they were away for the day, but Yuu couldn't stop the nagging in the pit of his stomach. Yuu glanced at the clock to his right.  
  
Twelve forty five.  
  
Again tossing over in bed, Yuu tried to fall asleep. Several minutes later, he got up and went to the bathroom that adjoined two of the rooms together. Miki's door to the bathroom was locked tight from the other side.  
  
Yuu rapped on the door. "Miki, are you there?" he asked. He thought he heard a noise, which made him more determined. But there was no other noise except for his knocking and his hushed voice. Yuu went back to his room. He just lay in bed.  
  
Early the next morning, Yuu looked at the clock again. He had dozed off for a moment and had woken up again, the same strange feeling in his stomach, as if there wasn't anyone else in the room next to him.  
  
He was giving himself strange thoughts as he took a shower. It was yet too early to start getting prepared to school, but even then he started to change into his uniform. Then he sat at his desk, looking around the piles of paper on his desk and wondering what to do and what to begin with.  
  
"Yuu?" His mother asked through the door an hour later. "Is Miki coming to school, dear?"  
  
Yuu shouted back: "I don't think so, mom."  
  
"Oh."  
  
She let herself in. Yuu stood up.  
  
"Yuu," she began. "Can you somehow.talk to Miki about what happened? Tell her that we didn't mean to do anything to hurt her, we just wanted to do it for her own good."  
  
She continued a long list of reasons of why he should talk to Miki, but she was only half listening. There was just this nagging sense he couldn't shake off.  
  
The rest of the next half hour went along smoothly, Jin, Miki's father, tried to coax Miki out of her room, but there was no reply. Then Miki's mother, then Yuu's father. There was no result, just a cold silence. Jin tried threatening Miki that he'd open the door if she didn't, but she gave no reply. In dejection, the parents tried to stick a note under Miki's door, and it was left at that.  
  
IN SCHOOL  
  
"Meiko?" Yuu asked after the last period of classes had ended. Meiko looked a bit surprised. She looked around, and when she saw Yuu, she gave a smile.  
  
"Where's Miki? Is she still sulking about Shin?"  
  
Yuu averted his gaze.  
  
"Uh.that's what I wanted to talk to you about."  
  
Meiko looked confused.  
  
"Do you want me to talk to Miki?"  
  
"No, not really. Did she tell you anything?"  
  
"Huh? What do you mean?"  
  
"Like, if she had some.plans or something."  
  
Meiko gave him a suspicious look.  
  
"What is it you're getting at?"  
  
Yuu shifted.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Can you come home with me this afternoon? I figure you can go talk to her or something."  
  
"About Shin?"  
  
"Yeah. About him."  
  
MIKI"S HOUSE  
  
"No one is home yet," Meiko observed.  
  
"Except Miki," Yuu reminded her. Meiko nodded as they went right to business. They went up the short flight of stairs and pretty soon were in front of Miki's door.  
  
"Miki?"  
  
Yuu rapped on the door.  
  
"Miki?"  
  
Meiko rapped on the door.  
  
There wasn't a sound to be heard.  
  
"."  
  
They kept at it a good quarter of an hour more until Yuu started to get impatient. "Miki, I'm coming in!" he said.  
  
He looked for Meiko. In a flash she was at his side holding a knife in her hand.  
  
"Use this," she offered, pointing to the door.  
  
"Nah," Yuu said. "I don't want to break the door. I'll just climb through the window." He remembered that time not too long ago when he had climbed into Miki's room using his window to hers. It had surprised her, and it had given him a thrill at the same time. He took the knife from Meiko, in case the window was locked.  
  
He climbed out his window and ignored the ground below. Instead, he looked at Miki's ledge to her window. He took a large step towards it. When he was there, he tried he window. It was stuck. He took the knife from his pocket and was at the door. In a few moments, it was undone. Yuu climbed into the dark room, stumbling around a bit and searched his memory for some clue on the light switch.  
  
"Miki?" he said in a loud whisper. Nothing.  
  
When he finally found the light switch and flipped it, his heart sunk, the white glare confirming what he already knew. The room was empty.  
  
He saw something on the bed, something a lighter color than the rest of the sheets. It was a note!  
  
Dear Parents and Yuu,  
  
I guess by now I should have arrived in Osaka by train. Don't worry, I'll be fine here. I'm coming back, after I talk with Shin. He didn't ask me to do this, I decided on this myself, so it's not his fault. I love you all and please, please, don't do anything drastic.  
  
Miki  
  
  
  
Yuu stared at the letter for the longest time until Meiko's knock from the other side of the door brought him back to reality.  
  
"Yuu, open the door," she called out. Numbly, Yuu stood up and unlocked the door. Meiko was surprised that he was all alone in the room. Yuu wordlessly handed her the letter. In less than a minute she was finished reading, and by some mutual understanding, the both of them started to tear through Miki's room, looking for clues.  
  
It wasn't long before Meiko found a scribbled address on the table beside the phone. It was an address in Osaka.  
  
She called Yuu over, and the two of them stared at it.  
  
"Meiko, how long is the bus ride from Tokyo to Osaka?" Yuu began.  
  
"About nine hours." Meiko said. She looked at Yuu with wide eyes. "Oh.no.you don't."  
  
"she's in enough trouble already," Yuu said in barely concealed anger. "With me. How much more for our parents."  
  
It was three forty five on Miki's Hello Kitty alarm clock. The next bullet train would go in fifteen minutes, which was enough time for him. Yuu went towards the kitchen and started getting random items from the fridge, fruits, cinnamon roll. When he came back up the stairs, Meiko was holding out a back pack towards him, and an extra shirt in one hand. Yuu took it and hurriedly got his jacket and his wallet.  
  
Meiko handed him some yen of her own, 'just in case he needed it.'  
  
"Meiko," Yuu shouted from the door. "If my parents come home, tell them I took Miki to a night party, and we'll be late."  
  
He waved the scrawled address in his right hand and went out the door.  
  
He was acting on pure impulse, but his sense of adventure at the moment was a thrill, and he knew that he might be doing something stupid.  
  
For better or for worse. 


	6. Run Away Home

TAXI, ON SOME STREET IN OSAKA  
  
"Are you sure this is the house?" Yuu askd the taxi driver. He nodded and handed Yuu back the now torn and soggy piece of paper. It had been hard to find a taxi, Yuu had had to call an agency to be able to get a taxi so late into the night. It was almost one in the morning. They had stopped by a somewhat moderate looking house which was peaceful in the shadows of the lamps in front of it.  
  
"Wait here," Yuu said to the driver as he stepped out, He went towards the gate. He whipped around as he heard a sharp noise, when he discovered that it was only the fact that the car had sped away anyway, leaving him stranded.  
  
Yuu contemplated ringing the bell in the gate and waking up the people inside the house. Then a surge of adrenaline caught up with him.  
  
Ding dong. His finger relaxed from the button.  
  
Ding dong. A pause.  
  
Ding Dong.  
  
Ding Dong.  
  
Around twenty minutes later, Yuu was ready to give up and get his cellphone to call for another taxi when he spotted a figure walking towards him. It took his a while to realize that it was Shin.  
  
"Hey, man," Shin said as he approached in his pajamas.  
  
Shin opened the gate.  
  
"It's late, come in."  
  
Yuu entered the lawn without answering Shin and then went inside the house.  
  
"I sort of knew you would come," Shin said softly to himself. "Yuu, you love Miki, don't you, and you just cant give her up."  
  
IN THE KITCHEN, SHIN'S AUNTIE'S HOUSE  
  
"She's sleeping in the guest room. Auntie thinks that she's just a guest from Tokyo, one of my close friends."  
  
Shin and Yuu were sitting in the dining table.  
  
"I was surprised when she came, she was crying and she explained how sorry she was. I let her stay here for a while, but I don't know."  
  
"We're leaving in forty minutes," Yuu informed Shin. "The next train leaved then."  
  
Shin glanced at him with a wary eye.  
  
"Your parents don't know about this, do they?"  
  
Yuu shook his head. "Where's Miki?" he asked. "I'll go wake her up."  
  
Shin led Yuu to another room on the same floor. All the walls were white, and the house was elegantly furnished with wooden furniture, The faint smell of varnish hung in the air. Even if the floors were carpeted with a maroon layer, the both of them made extra care not to make any noise to wake up Shin's auntie.  
  
They entered the 'guest room,' a cozy room with a bed in the center and a table at one side. Yuu saw that Miki was sleeping on the bed.  
  
He went up to it and shook Miki's sleeping form.  
  
"Miki!" he said sharply. She woke up after a while of stirring.  
  
"Yuu!" she exclaimed as soon as her eyes could focus in the dark. All the light in the room consisted of the faint glow from the halls that had seeped inside. She sat up instantly. Her eyes had dark circles under them, as if she hadn't been able to sleep very well. Then they filled with tears and she threw her arms around him. Yuu sort of drew back from surprise, but then he held Miki just the same.  
  
"Does this mean I'm in trouble?" Miki asked in a soft laugh.  
  
"With me, you are," Yuu said gruffly. "Only Meiko and I know about this."  
  
From the door, Shin cleared his throat.  
  
Miki broke away and looked at Yuu with huge eyes, that were starting to fill with dawning excitement.  
  
"I felt like a runaway, " she said, beginning her story. "And you should have seen it! The look on Shin's face when I."  
  
TRAIN STATION, THIRY MINUTES LATER  
  
Shin and Miki hugged. Yuu broke them off by telling Miki:  
  
"We have to go."  
  
Miki gave Shin a sad, sad smile and then boarded the train with Yuu. It two AM, and they were headed back to Tokyo. As the train rolled past, Shin stood, watching, in a nightshirt and a pair of jeans, his hair ruffled.  
  
"He was the first person I've ever cared for so much," Miki said sadly.  
  
Yuu looked at her, sitting to his right.  
  
"What do you mean, loved?" he asked, deliberately stressing the fact that she had used the past tense instead of the present.  
  
"When I came here and took a look at him.It's hard to explain, Yuu, but I fell out of love with him," Miki said. "Just like I fell out of love with Ginta after someone else came along."  
  
"Was it another person this time that 'came along'?"  
  
Yuu asked. Miki shook her head, giving a small smile.  
  
"No, it was the same one. I just realized it before I left Tokyo two days ago. I wondered why I was chasing Shin so far. Then I realized that I only wanted someone else to be jealous of me and him, and none of it was working out. I had been so selfish."  
  
Yuu heard that she was getting tired.  
  
"Did it work?" He asked.  
  
Miki shook her head. Her voice cracked with bitterness.  
  
"No, I don't think it did, Yuu," she said softly. "He's still the same, day after day, finding ways to make fun of me."  
  
Yuu didn't know what to make of the last statement, searching his brain for an insult to shoot at her to make a joke of what she was saying, when a peculiar thought crossed his mind, but he wasn't able to hold onto it before it went away. The strange expression on his face was still there when Miki laid her head on his shoulder to go to sleep.  
  
  
  
THE NEXT WEEK OF SCHOOL  
  
"Ginta!" Meiko pulled him aside from Miki and Yuu. Unfortunately, the action had been too conspicuous and both of the friends turned back at the same time.  
  
"I have to talk to him," Meiko hurriedly explained. Miki gave her a strange look. "Just go ahead," Meiko insisted. When the rest of the party was out of sight, Meiko hissed to Ginta:  
  
"Stop drooling after Miki! You're making it so obvious!"  
  
Ginta gaped at her. "What do you mean drooling after Miki? I haven't been doing anything! It's almost the middle of the school year, Meiko! And Miki hasn't decided yet! Im worried that if I give her time to think about the current situation, then she'll choose Yuu over me!"  
  
Meiko gave him a puzzled look.  
  
"Haven't you come up with that possibility by now?"  
  
Ginta shrugged and made a movement that suggested that he wanted start going back to the canteen for lunch time. Meiko sighed and followed after him. 


	7. Ginta Tries Hard

THE FOLLOWING MONTH  
  
"Miki," Ginta said through the gates of her house. It was the semestral break of the school, and he was hoping to receive some brownie points when it came to Miki. He called again, the afternoon breeze giving him a cool hint of salvation. February, the month of romance, was a perfect time.  
  
He went on for a minute or so when the door of the house opened.  
  
"Ginta!" Miki said, smiling at him. "What are you doing here?"  
  
She came up to him and opened the gate. She led him into the house. They had just stepped into the living room, and Ginta didn't notice that Yuu was in the kitchen, right in hearing distance. Miki started:  
  
"Ginta, are you feeling alright?"  
  
He cleared his throat, feeling slightly green, but he couldn't allow himself to be distracted. The perfect moment had arrived. He took out the bouquet of flowers he had been hiding behind his back and then held them out. His brain stated the well-rehearsed line. It sounded smooth to his own ears.  
  
"Sweet smelling flowers for a sweet person," he said almost nervously. With another hand behind his back, he fingered the hem of his shirt. A strange position it was, like he was trying to kill Miki with the bouquet of flowers. He tried to make his voice smooth and silky, but at the stupefied look on Miki's face, he somehow knew that he had failed.  
  
".."  
  
He threw the bouquet of flowers at her face, not knowing what else to do . It bumped against her knee before it hit the floor. She looked up at him.  
  
"What'd you do that for?"  
  
Ginta had an embarrassed grin on his face.  
  
"Miki..," he said. His next line came out in a huff. "I'm a very nice person!"  
  
He almost rammed through the door. A long awkward pause followed.  
  
Yuu's cackling came from the kitchen as Miki turned red.  
  
VALENTINES DAY A WEEK AND THREE DAYS LATER; 7:56 AM  
  
"So how do you do that problem again?" Yuu asked Miki during their homeroom period. The teacher was apparently absent, and there was nobody else to suddenly take his place. Ginta hadn't arrived in class yet.  
  
"You transfer this number to the place over there," Miki said patiently. She did some fancy squiggles with her ball pen. Yuu looked at it, a crazy half smile on his face.  
  
"I don't get it," he said, leaning back with a hand behind his head. Miki smiled, a sweatdrop running down the side of her face.  
  
"All right, "she said. "We're doing this one more time."  
  
Just then the whole class was interrupted by a racket outside the classroom door. Simultaneously, heads turned to the door. A confused expression masked all of their faces. Eventually, Miki's ears adjusted enough to hear at least a few of the words that were being sung. Now that she listened closer, she could hear the strumming of a guitar. She listened even more.  
  
"Miki! I love you.  
  
Miki..you're my friend. Miki..I love you. Miki..you're my friend. You're my friend."  
  
From the blank look on Yuu's face that was clearly trying to hold in a laugh, Miki guessed that he had figured out as well it was Ginta. The door opened, and Ginta came in with one of his friends, who was holding a guitar. Ginta was holding a rose in his hand. He strode up to Miki, and in front of everyone there, he gave Miki the rose.  
  
"I like you Miki," he said in a low voice. Yuu chose that moment to interrupt and break the mood.  
  
"Hehe!" he laughed heartily. He leaned close to Ginta, so that only the latter could hear him. "You can't win her like that, Ginta," he said softly.  
  
What Yuu got was some cold reception. Ginta gave something of a snort but didn't give Yuu the pleasure of a glance. Miki just said: "Oh, Ginta."  
  
She threw her arms around him but said nothing.  
  
Her eyes shone softly in the morning light, giving Yuu a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it was a feeling that he just couldn't place.  
  
END OF CHAPTER SEVEN SHORT, I KNOW, BUT TIME IS SHORT, TOO, AND I HAVE LOADS OF THINGS TO DO. THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME TO READ THIS. 


	8. ....Ginta.......

Chapter 8  
  
"The number you dial is not yet in service," came the automatic voice on the other end of the line. Yuu's eyes narrowed. Why was that it wasn't in service? His former friend must have forgotten to place his phone on properly in the cradle. Yuu toyed around with the cordless phone in his fingers, resisting the unexplainable urge to kick something. He didn't realize that someone was calling out his name until Miki nearly shouted through the door for the phone.  
  
"Yuu!" she said, exasperated, accompanying her small shout with a fist on the door. "Are you finished with the phone?!"  
  
Yuu's nerves frayed. He called back that he was. Miki went back to her own room to use her own cordless phone. Yuu frowned. What was he thinking about? Was he being stupid? He glance at the paper in front of him. It was a weekend past Valentines Day, and he had suddenly been struck by a sense of uneasiness. He reached out in front to crumple the paper.  
  
MIKI"S LIST OF POSSIBLE CHARMING GIFTS, he had written in his scrawl. There were some things that he had never gotten even his own mother, like a nice bead bracelet. He was thinking of giving her a set of hoop earrings, but he just couldn't bring himself in the first place to admit to her that he liked her.  
  
Ginta had been visiting more and more often, the now sickening face popping out in all sorts of places, the malls, the park, the front gate. And Miki was increasingly delighted to hear from her friend.  
  
Yuu stopped in the middle of crumpling the list, pausing ever so slightly, but then again, he changed his mind and brushed it aside so that it fell into the trash can beside his desk, along with the other lists.  
  
Miki's cheerful bubbly chatter carried on. To Yuu's ears, it sounded very much muffled from the other room. His stomach ached from the last thirty minutes of him trying to contact his best friend in his old school. Yuu stepped out of his room to raid the kitchen. As he passed by Miki's door, he heard two syllables that sounded suspiciously like.'Ginta'.  
  
His eyes narrowing, Yuu leaned ever so slightly closer to Miki's door, so that the thin cotton of his shirt brushed against the doorknob.  
  
"Ginta, you're crazy! Now?" Miki was going on incredulously. It was a good thing that Miki had somehow raised her voice. The elation was quite obvious as she continued to speak on the phone. Yuu dismissed the idea of eavesdropping. Ginta must have had achieved new heights of guts and glory to be speaking to Miki on the phone. It was only a phone conversation, so Yuu didn't think much of it. He continued on his way to the kitchen. He sat on the counter and ate one of his apricot jam sandwiches, staring thoughtfully at a container on beside the other jams. Yellow script was written in a nice, tidy handwriting: MARMALADE JAM.  
  
Picking it up thoughtfully, Yuu studied the label. Fruits were drawn in bold ink all over the paper; several fruits in just the right pigment made the substance inside look almost appealing. But he was smart enough not to eat the jam inside. It was a bitter squeeze. The mother of Miki had only bought it because she thought that the label looked nice. There were just too many bitter rinds inside. The cover looked wonderful.until you tasted what was inside.  
  
With a small pang, Yuu remembered what had happened earlier in the year before, when he was with Miki during breakfast, and she had compared him to Marmalade Jam. He had made fun of her then, but now that he had thought about it, he should have taken her more seriously. She was right; all people saw about him was the shiny surface, the sweet and tolerant Yuu. Miki had been the only person who he had ever let see the other side of him, or the hidden side. So engrossed he was in his thoughts that he barely noticed that Miki was packing up some bread into a plastic basket. When he did notice, he also saw that she was wearing a pair of jeans and a new- checkered shirt.  
  
"Where're you going?" Yuu asked, munching into his sandwich. He hastily put aside the Marmalade Jam. He assumed that Miki was simply going to meet Meiko in the park. In that case, Yuu planned to walk her there.  
  
"No where special." Miki started absent-mindedly.  
  
She was holding some chocolate milk into the plastic basket.  
  
"Oh, alright. You and Meiko planning another bumming out movie fest?"  
  
"I'm not going to see Meiko tonight," Miki said, looking at him curiously. Yuu's head tipped upwards warily, sudden realization dawning on his thick, thick skull.  
  
"Ginta."  
  
"Yeah," Miki confirmed. "He wants to tell me something tonight."  
  
"Okay. Hope you have fun with Straight Guy."  
  
Yuu decided then that that was to be the new nickname of Ginta, straight guy, because he was such a straight student. Miki recognized the mockery at once, and she glared at him. Then.somehow, she gave a laugh. Yuu stared at her, then he found that his shoulders sagged.  
  
He was tired in an instant; he established that his nerves refused to make further fun of her. Miki looked at him for a long time, the both of them just staring into each other's eyes.  
  
"Yuu?" Miki said first. "You look sick."  
  
Yuu gave a vague wave of his hand, breadcrumbs flying away for a moment.  
  
"Straight guy, straight guy," he mumbled weakly to taunt her some more. But she seemed immune, just staring at him as if he were crazy. In a moment, her face became expressionless.  
  
"Why do you turn stupid and insensitive all of a sudden?!" she asked him almost angrily. "You're so nice to other people but you act like you hate the fact that I'm alive! You insult me and you compliment other people."  
  
Yuu gave a tiny, tiny chuckle. "'All people see is the pretty surface, but they don't know about the bitterness, huh, Miki?"  
  
Miki's eyes widened a bit as she went over those words. They were familiar words, she was certain that she had heard them before, but she just couldn't place where. She stood up, dusting her already clean jeans. Her face was uncertain, brooding over the mysterious ring of the words.  
  
Picking up her basket, she was about to go out of the kitchen. She stopped, her body rigid, and she said distractedly under her breath:  
  
"Yuu, pass the Apricot Jam, will you? I forgot to bring some for the bread.It's not.going to taste good with out the.jam."  
  
Yuu, by this time, had finished his sandwich, and he had started to get up as well. He held up the apricot jam jar and said some words that came from what he remembered had happened, they all tumbled out like an echo from the past.  
  
"None left," he said. A small under comment was: "Finished it all." He followed with another line: "All we have is this."  
  
He held up the Marmalade Jam. Miki's face scrunched up as she looked at it in distaste.  
  
"Marmalade Jam?" she asked. "I don't like that stuff. It's so bitter, especially around..... the....."  
  
She stopped in mid-sentence, understanding dawning in on her. Her food basket hung limply at her side as she remembered in a flashback about the time she and Yuu had been left in the house earlier in the school year.......  
  
"Especially around the rinds?" Yuu finished suggestively, making a small motion with his hand. He said again: "And yes, Miki... I'm a lot like Marmalade."  
  
"." Miki was busy studying in awe the almost crazy half smile on his face.  
  
"Miki," Yuu said. "Then you're a Mustard Girl. Always spicy......and sour."  
  
He walked past her, leaving the marmalade jar in the middle of the shiny lacquered surface of the table.  
  
IN THE PARK 7:34 PM Friday  
  
"Yuu's acting all funny," Miki said to Ginta. She had a worried expression. "He's talking suddenly imitating conversations we'd had some time ago, and he's spacing out.  
  
Ginta shrugged, yellow lamp light pooling his black hair as he borke the bread apart. He was wearing a polo and a Nike jacket, his blue slacks adding a pleasant touch.  
  
"Maybe he's jealous," he said nonchalantly. A glob of marmalade fell in front of him as he spooned it up to meet the knife.  
  
"Of what?" Miki asked, not getting the message.  
  
"Of you, of course," Ginta exclaimed, as if the answer were so obvious. "I mean, I've known that he'd had a crush on you when he first interrupted your date with Shin!"  
  
"You know about that?" Miki asked, amazed at how informed Ginta was.  
  
"Don't be stupid. Yuu doesn't like me, all he does is make fun of me."  
  
"Look who's being stubborn? Maybe it's because he LIKES you, Miki, and he's just really, astoundingly horrible at showing how he feels."  
  
Miki though she saw something in Ginta then that she didn't like. It was as if her were almost happy.  
  
"Why are you so smiley?" Miki asked him suspiciously.  
  
"Because I know that now I have you!" Ginta replied without hesitation. He was exceedingly bubbly that night. He hugged her, his uneaten marmalade sandwich in his left hand.  
  
"I confessed my feelings for you in front of Yuu so that he'd see how useless it is to try to get you," Ginta said. "It's because.I really care about you."  
  
His revelation of toying with Yuu's feelings left Miki numb.  
  
Ginta bit into the sandwich.  
  
"Wow," he exclaimed. "It has so many bitter rinds.I didn't expect that from the way the labels is drawn."  
  
"You.." Ginta looked up from the jar. "Acted the way you did to make Yuu jealous?"  
  
Now that Miki had added two and two together, she now realized that Yuu's actions were somehow explained. Ginta nodded slowly.  
  
Then..  
  
"Ah, crap," he laid his forehead in on the palm of his hand. "Miki."  
  
"I have to go," Miki said hurriedly, standing up. "Ginta, give all of these to me tomorrow, alright? I have to do something."  
  
She was caught up in the moment, heading on impulse, adrenalin pumping in her veins. She got up and started to run to the exit of the park. She saw a scene in her mind's eye, how Yuu would react to her confession of apology and her love for him, and her affection for Ginta. She let out a small breath. Since the street happened to be empty, she rushed forward to be a step closer to her goal. She had barely set foot on the pavement, when:  
  
"Miki!" Ginta appeared from the other side of the road after Miki had crossed. He held the basket in an irregular manner, as he tried to wave frantically. Miki looked at him and suddenly felt light headed.  
  
"Ginta!" she waved. Ginta rushed forward.and Miki gave a sudden scream for him to step back, but it was too.late.  
  
As the drunken driver was being questioned, and as Ginta's limp body was being wheeled in the ambulance car-...  
  
And....As the blood lay on the road amidst the fallen food from the fruit basket....As Yuu watched the clock from the kitchen wall in the house, and as Ginta drew in shallow breath after shallow..breath...  
  
Miki was leaning against the lamp post, her low battery cellphone in one hand, and another hand swiped against her eye. Everything was surreal, she was detached, the same words in her head.  
  
"...Ginta..Ginta.." 


	9. Memories

Chapter nine  
  
'"Come on!" Miki laughed, her hand high above her head as she waved at Ginta to come cross the road. Her head felt clear and figured out. She was bursting with a newfound understanding. Ginta gripped the large basket.  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he said, taking a step to the edge of the street. "But I'm waiting for the pedestrian sign to go on to green."  
  
"There's no car coming!" Miki said. "I don't have all night!"  
  
Shadows were cast all over Ginta's doubtful face, as if it were a sign of what was about to come. She gave a quick look at his side, the seeing that really, there was no vehicle, and he stepped on the road, his eyes focused on Miki. He was halfway when she suddenly turned white. Her mouth formed silent words.  
  
Ginta looked closer. It looked like she was silently screaming : "Get back!"  
  
He opened his mouth to ask her what she was talking about when some pressure hit his right side. The basket collapsed from his arms. He didn't even feel a little pain, just a slight sense of surprise and incomprehension. Even when he was on the stretcher, unconscious, being carried to the hospital, even as he drew his last breath, his closed eyes were relaxed, and his hair was still a little on end, and his mouth was slightly open in revelation, as if he was planning to take his surprise to the other world with him.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Miki!" her mother shouted through the door. "Are you alright, honey? The funeral....is.....tomorrow, alright? Miki, open the door...."  
  
Miki got up and opened the door like her mother had requested. Yuu stood beside her mother, crossing his arms and looking at her, concerned.  
  
"Are you okay?" her mother asked again, offering a hand. Miki shook her head.  
  
"Mom, I'm okay." She gave a wan smile. She closed the door, and walked over to her bed. She flopped over and closed her eyes..........  
  
  
  
  
  
'"Come on!" Miki laughed, her hand high above her head as she waved at Ginta to come cross the road. Her head felt clear and figured out. She was bursting with a newfound understanding. Ginta gripped the large basket.  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he said, taking a step to the edge of the street. "But I'm waiting for the pedestrian sign to go on to green."  
  
"There's no car coming!" Miki said. "I don't have............'' 


	10. Ending: I'll Always Remember...

Last finale: Always Remember  
  
Miki looked at the coffin in front of her. The black dress that she wore was hot and sticky, but despite that, her hands were icy cold and clammy. She approached the coffin. One look at his pale, pale face, a series of memories flooded her brain.  
  
She had loved him so much in junior high......  
  
Then Yuu had come.....  
  
How she played badminton with him......  
  
How he got so jealous when Yuu first came to their high school...  
  
"Hey," Yuu's gentle voice came from behind her. He was wearing his black suit as well, holding an umbrella over her. "It's been raining for the past ten minutes, and you've been staring at those flowers on the.....glass.....for the past fifteen minutes."  
  
Miki noticed then that her dress was wet, and that she had unconsciously reached out to grab the Black Death suit of her best friend.  
  
"Miki, let him go," Yuu said in brokenly. Miki looked at him. His face was strangely hazy and blurred. The dark clouds behind him looked nearly threatening to blur in with the trees.  
  
"There's nothing you can do now," Yuu said. Miki's hand shook as she refused to let go of the suit. If she did, then it would have been like saying a final goodbye to her friend, and she hated goodbyes. She hated...goodbyes...so much. Even Ginta's face was blurred to her.  
  
Yuu had to pry her fingers off the cloth before he half-dragged her to get some water. The last song that was played was that old, classic song...  
  
'Do you still remember..Was it only me....Somehow, I knew, as I looked.....'  
  
^^Miki spent that night crying in Yuu's arms and feeling guilty over Ginta's death before she started to talk to Yuu, who told her that it wasn't her fault, and all that.^^  
  
  
  
CHAPTER NINE AND CHAPTER TEN WERE THE SHORTEST CHAPTERS YOU MIGHT EVER SEE IN ONE OF MY STOIRES, IT'S JUST THAT I HAVE THIS STRANGE FEELING IN THE PIT OF MY STOMACH THAT I MIGHT FAIL THE YEAR LEVEL I'M IN RIGHT NOW, EVEN IF I'M DOING OKAY SO FAR, I'M SURE THAT SOMEDAY.MY LUCK IS GOING TO RUN OUT. 


End file.
